Tengu City—so that should be the city where Shido Itsuka exists.
Since Kurumi said he doesn't exist, then he really doesn't.
Another difference between anime and the real world, huh, but what Kurumi said next made Tatsuki freeze.
Kurumi: "Even if there are differences, I found someone whose name is only one character off—"
Tatsuki: "Who?"
Kurumi: "Shiori Itsuka."
Shiori Itsuka?
The name made Tatsuki's eyelid twitch like crazy, and even his hands slowed for a beat.
Megumi's cheeks were flushed, her small mouth letting out faint, hurried breaths.
Yui, meanwhile, kept shuddering now and then, too embarrassed to even lift her head.
When Tatsuki shifted, both of them noticed.
One tilted her head at him; the other lifted teary eyes, dazed and confused.
Yeah—this wasn't the time to space out. He should get them to the clouds first.
Time to actually put some power into it.
As the hard movements hit, both of them endured it while their little hands sped up at just the right time.
Because the big bug was swelling—if you were going to take, you couldn't not give back. They understood that much.
Tatsuki was the kind of man who could multitask.
Tatsuki: "So she's a woman?"
Kurumi: "That's right."
Tatsuki went blank.
Shido Itsuka turning into Shiori Itsuka was originally just a classic famous scene.
He hadn't expected it to get referenced in all kinds of fanworks.
A lot of Date A Live doujins used the "Shiori Itsuka" setup and now, in the real world, that fanwork setting had become real.
That was just way too interesting.
Saeko: "You know her, Tatsuki-kun? You look pretty shocked."
Seitenshi: "Is she an enemy?"
Tatsuki: "No, nothing like that. I'm just shocked about her gender."
Mikasa: "Shocked by a woman? Are women scary?"
Tatsuki: "Uh… depends. Someone like you isn't scary. Honestly, you're pretty great."
Mikasa: "…"
Tatsuki: "Anyway, Kurumi, heads-up—this person has the ability to seal Spirits' powers."
Kurumi: "Seal Spirits' powers?! Can she seal the First Spirit too?"
Kurumi's eyes widened. She held her breath, waiting for the answer.
If the First Spirit's power could be sealed, her plan would finally succeed! But Tatsuki's answer disappointed her.
Tatsuki: "You're getting ahead of yourself."
Kurumi: "Hehe… I really was daydreaming, wasn't I."
Tatsuki: "I know you want to kill the First Spirit. How about a deal?"
Kurumi: "What kind of deal?"
Tatsuki: "I'm pretty interested in the power of the Kabbalah Tree of Life and the Qliphoth. Help me gather all the Spirits, and I'll help you deal with the First Spirit."
Kurumi: "The Kabbalah Tree of Life? I don't really understand it, but… you can actually deal with the First Spirit?"
Tatsuki: "Well, I actually just destroyed a star system. Didn't have time to go live, but I've got a couple screenshots."
Tatsuki: "[Image], [Image]."
Tatsuki: "For the record, that star system had hundreds of billions of stars. Took about a minute to wipe it out. That should give you a reference point for my strength."
Kurumi: "…"
Kurumi opened the images.
The first was a deep, unfathomable nebula.
The second was a chaotic galaxy—like the nebula had been crushed and twisted by some overwhelming force and scattered throughout it were countless pitch-black holes.
They were all black holes!
Just from the change in the nebula, you could guess what that star system had gone through—you could see it marching toward destruction.
Coupled with Tatsuki's casual tone, Kurumi fell silent and it wasn't just her. The entire main base in the group chat went dead quiet.
Momonga: "Gulp! B-big… big big big boss! That's insane!"
Ainz's words were like a catfish tossed into a barrel of sardines, instantly whipping everyone into a frenzy.
Silver Wolf: "You… you're seriously something else. With power like this, you've already surpassed the Destruction Lord!"
March 7th: "I—uh, I asked Himeko what 'destroying a star system in a minute' even means, and Himeko said: 'Below an Aeon, no one can stand against you.'"
Kiana: "Himeko? I've got an Auntie Himeko too! I'll go ask her!"
Big Fat Sheep: "What is this?"
Kiana: "Auntie Himeko said no Herrscher can do that."
Nami: "I've never seen a star system, but I know the world under our feet is huge. If thousands of billions—maybe even tens of trillions—of worlds like ours get destroyed… Tatsuki, you're way too strong!"
Vivi: "Wah… when Nami puts it like that, I kinda get it. Basically: so strong it's impossible to describe."
Hai Xiaomei: "Same. Words just can't capture it."
Honghong Tushan: "Honghong thinks so too."
Reinhard van Astrea: "Hard to believe. Any enemy facing that kind of power would probably fall into despair."
Mikoto Suoh: "They'd lose the will to fight."
Tatsuki: "Well, as for enemies… those interstellar bugs, I didn't pay them much attention. They'll die in the star system's big explosion anyway."
Kisara Tendo: "You really can just casually say things that leave people speechless. I genuinely don't know who could possibly be your opponent."
Mumei: "Big Brother will definitely become the strongest."
Tatsuki: "Becoming the strongest is one of my goals, yeah. But I'm still nowhere near enough."
Emilia: "Mm… Tatsuki-kun, do your best!"
Emilia's encouragement made Tatsuki laugh without meaning to. She really was cute—so of course he replied.
Tatsuki: "Yeah. And you'd better do your best in the royal selection too. I'm waiting to go watch your coronation."
Emilia: "Hehe, I will!"
Esdeath: "Tatsuki, I just realized surpassing you might be hopelessly far away. What do you think I should do?"
Tatsuki: "At least you don't want to kill yourself now, right?"
Esdeath: "Of course. Without that weird energy influencing me, I wouldn't kill myself. Running away is disgraceful."
Tatsuki: "I'm glad you can say that. Then you don't really have any other option—work hard and surpass me. Or beat me in other ways."
Tatsuki said something only Esdeath would understand.
Esdeath: "We'll see."
Furina: "Um… should I also praise you with some gorgeous wording?"
Aqua: "Praise what, you idiot Tatsuki!"
Exusiai: "Oh? Aqua can do something like that?"
Aqua: "O-of course I can! I'm Aqua, the goddess of water!"
Exusiai: "Ew—zero confidence."
Chen: "This land… forget it. I just wanted to express my shock, but now it feels like there's nothing to say. Only having a big fist is the real truth."
This land couldn't adapt to this kind of… so it could only be devoured alive by others and…